Wii Sports a winner for Nintendo

November 20th, 2006, 22:19 Posted By: gunntims0103

news via punchjump

Wii Sports, a collection of five sports titles, is an excellent pack-in title for Nintendo's new system. The tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing titles introduce players to the new Wii Remote and feature advanced motion-sensing that is as accurate as it is fun.

Wii Sports features five sports games: Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf, and Boxing. Each employs full use of the Wii Remote for virtual movement; Boxing utilizes the Nunchuk controller for two-handed bouts.

Tennis includes doubles play for Single Game, Best of Three, and Best of Five for 1-4 players. Players control the racquet swing while the CPU controls player movement. The Wii Remote does a fantastic job to distinguish forehands, backhands, lobs, direction, and momentum via simulated racquet swings. In select cases ball direction may not be a direct correlation to on-screen movement, however, further distance from the TV set equates to better accuracy.

Baseball includes a three inning game where 1 – 2 players control batting and pitching. Fielding is controlled by the CPU. Bat movement corresponds directly to the screen for top accuracy. Batters can swing hard for a deep hit or light for a bunt. Players can throw fastballs, screwballs, curveballs, and splitters, though the game throw doesn't correspond to the actual throw with Wii Remote. The delay is unfortunate, as pitching is a less of an in-game experience than its batting counterpart.

Golf includes Beginner, Intermediate, Expert, and 9-Hole Game for 1-4 players. Players can choose Driver, Wedge, and Putter clubs for a basic golf experience. Golf club movement is sophisticated and requires the most finesse out of the five sports games. When players swing too hard a power meter will fluctuate to indicate excess power. A swing with tiny changes in momentum will be detected in great accuracy.

Bowling includes one mode for a standard game for up to 4 players. Players swing back the Wii Remote while holding the B trigger, and let go of the B trigger to simulate dropping the ball. The experience is very close to the real thing sans the bowling ball weight, and pin drop physics are very life-like. The game will likely be the easiest for most players to pick up and play.

Finally, boxing is a two-handed bout fest that utilizes the Nunchuk controller and Wii Remote simultaneously. Matches can be held for 1-2 players and the instant relay between controllers and on-screen movement creates fast and accurate play. Players can perform high and low jabs and hard punches, block by holding the controllers up, and shift position by leaning the body to the left or right. The experience is fun and provides a hard workout after a few bouts.

To compliment the sports collection, Wii includes Training and Fitness Modes. Training includes three exercises for each title and Fitness Mode is a age-determination trial that consists of three exercises from all sports games.

The graphics engine is simple and effective in Wii Sports. The game engine runs at 60 frames per second and flat textures cover Mii character bodies. Landscapes like tennis courts and golf courses are well produced, with defined textures and individual plant movement. The music tracks include mid-tempo selections that compliment each title. Additions like player indication beeps and punches through the Wii Remote speaker help define the overall experience.

Wii Sports is a winner for Nintendo that helps to introduce the console through effective motion-sensing games. Each title may not feature the depth of stand-alone titles, however players young and old, male and female, will experience fun video game sports on a whole new playing field.

There are 1 comments - Join In and Discuss Here